Search Results (8,521)

This research presents a lens-based light collection system that integrates a handmade glass conical waveguide (GCW) with a single silica multimodal optical fiber (SMMF) and a concentrator Fresnel lens (FL). The GCW functions as a secondary optical element (SOE), effectively expanding the fiber’s receptive area and enabling efficient coupling of concentrated light. Calibrated ray-tracing simulations confirm that the complete FL + GCW + SMMF configuration maintains low transmission losses, thereby validating efficient coupling into the SMMF. Experimental results demonstrated a maximum net optical efficiency of 41% at an FL numerical aperture (NA) of 0.08, with GCW transmission reaching 60% and splice losses to the SMMF around 34%. With a luminous flux input of 155 lumens, the system delivered up to 63 lumens at the fiber output. Importantly, the FL + GCW + SMMF configuration combines reproducible fabrication, straightforward assembly, and reliable characterization, establishing a scalable pathway for daylight harvesting. The major contribution of this work is the demonstration that a simple, manufacturable GCW can substantially expand the effective collection area of multimodal fibers while preserving low optical losses, thereby bridging practical design with efficient energy transfer for sustainable photonics applications. Full article

The fungicide Imazalil (IMZ) is widely used to maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables after harvest. Despite its widespread use, the neurotoxic effects of IMZ remain poorly studied. Thus, in this work, we aimed to investigate the effects of subacute IMZ exposure on memory and learning, as well as on cholinesterase (ChE) activity, in orally exposed rats. To do so, Wistar rats were exposed to doses corresponding to 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 of the LD50 of IMZ. Each dose was divided into four equal parts and administered once daily for four consecutive days, while behavioral performance was assessed using the Barnes Maze. On day 5, we measured ChE activity in the hippocampus and serum. The enzymatic activity assays demonstrated a dose-dependent decrease in both cholinesterase activities at 1/4 LD50 of IMZ. In addition, rats in the control group exhibited a typical learning curve in the Barnes maze, characterized by reduced latency and fewer attempts to locate the escape box from the first session (S1) to the final session (S4). The typical learning curve was prevented by a 1/4 LD50 treatment. Additionally, this dose prevented an increase in spatial navigation strategy use, observed in the control group (S1 vs. S4). To our knowledge, these results proved that IMZ inhibits in vivo the activity of both brain and serum ChEs, and exhibits evidence of learning and memory impairments, suggesting that IMZ has neurotoxic effects in rats, probably mediated by alterations in the cholinergic system. Full article

Tea bud recognition and localization constitute a fundamental step toward enabling fine-grained tea plantation management and intelligent harvesting, offering substantial value in improving the picking quality of premium tea materials, reducing labor dependency, and accelerating the development of smart tea agriculture. However, most existing methods for detecting tea buds are built upon Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and rely extensively on floating-point computation, making them difficult to deploy efficiently on energy-constrained edge platforms. To address this challenge, this paper proposes an energy-efficient tea bud detection model, GAE-SpikeYOLO, which improves upon the Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) detection framework SpikeYOLO. Firstly, Gated Attention Coding (GAC) is introduced into the input encoding stage to generate spike streams with richer spatiotemporal dynamics, strengthening shallow feature saliency while suppressing redundant background spikes. Secondly, the model incorporates the Temporal-Channel-Spatial Attention (TCSA) module into the neck network to enhance deep semantic attention on tea bud regions and effectively suppress high-level feature responses unrelated to the target. Lastly, the proposed model adopts the EIoU loss function to further improve bounding box regression accuracy. The detection capability of the model is systematically validated on a tea bud object detection dataset collected in natural tea garden environments. Experimental results show that the proposed GAE-SpikeYOLO achieves a Precision (P) of 83.0%, a Recall (R) of 72.1%, a mAP@0.5 of 81.0%, and a mAP@[0.5:0.95] of 60.4%, with an inference energy consumption of only 49.4 mJ. Compared with the original SpikeYOLO, the proposed model improves P, R, mAP@0.5, and mAP@[0.5:0.95] by 1.4%, 1.6%, 2.0%, and 3.3%, respectively, while achieving a relative reduction of 24.3% in inference energy consumption. The results indicate that GAE-SpikeYOLO provides an efficient and readily deployable solution for tea bud detection and other agricultural vision tasks in energy-limited scenarios. Full article

We present WM-Classroom v1.0, a pedagogical multi-species agent-based model (ABM) designed for educational purposes in predator–prey–harvest systems. The model embeds a predator, two prey breeds, and human harvesters on a homogeneous 50 × 50 grid with weekly time steps, implementing random movement, abstract energetics, prey consumption, reproduction, legal harvest with species-specific cut-offs and seasons, optional predator control, and a poaching switch. After basic technical checks (energetic calibration, prey composition, herbivore viability), we explore the consistency of the model under illustrative scenarios including no hunting, single-prey harvest, hunter-density and season-length gradients, predator removal, and poaching. In the no-hunting baseline (n = 100), mean end-of-run abundances were 22 deer, 159 boar, and 45 wolves, with limited extinction events. Deer-only harvest often drove deer to very low end-of-run counts (mean 1–16) with extinctions in 2–7/10 replicates across cut-offs, whereas boar-only harvest showed higher persistence (mean 11–74) and boar extinctions occurred only at the lowest cut-off (3/10). Increasing hunter numbers or season length depressed prey and could indirectly reduce wolves via prey depletion. Legal predator control reduced predators as designed, while poaching had little effect under the implemented rules. Because interaction and prey-choice rules are simplified for transparency, outcomes should be interpreted as conditional on model assumptions. WM-Classroom v1.0 provides a didactic sandbox for courses, professional training, and outreach, with extensions (habitat heterogeneity, age/sex structure, probabilistic diet/kill success, and calibration/validation) outlined for future versions. Full article

A novel plant nutrient media was developed from vermicompost through microbial organisms and organic soil obtained from mango orchards. The novel nutrient media was evaluated to assess the efficacy of the novel media as both a sole and integrated nutrient source for flower production of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Basanti in sandy loam soil. The results demonstrated that marigold flower yield was maximized when the novel plant nutrient media comprised 50% of the novel nutrient media combined with the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers, compared to chemical fertilizers alone. Post-harvest soil analysis revealed that treatments with this novel nutrient media, both alone and in combination with inorganic fertilizers, significantly enhanced nutrient availability (NPK), increased soil organic carbon content, and improved microbial activity and soil enzyme function. Principal component analysis identified flower yield per plant, number of flowers per plant, and seed yield as key variables explaining maximum variability, suggesting these traits as primary selection criteria for performance optimization, and the treatments T4 (78.01) and T5 (85.15) had the highest positive scores on PC1, indicating superior performance for yield-contributing traits. These findings indicate that integrating novel nutrient media into agricultural practices could provide developing countries with an effective strategy for addressing the environmental challenges associated with excessive inorganic fertilizer use while maintaining crop productivity. Full article

Background/Objectives: Epidemiological and clinical studies have linked both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism to adverse cardiac outcomes, including heart failure and myocardial fibrosis. Triiodothyronine (T3), a biologically active thyroid hormone, is important for cardiovascular homeostasis. While the effects of physiological and non-physiological T3 levels on cardiomyocytes have been extensively investigated, the impact of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism on cardiac stromal cells (CSCs), which constitute the majority of the cells in the heart, remains understudied. Given CSCs’ essential role in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and paracrine signaling, understanding their response to altered T3 states is necessary to fully elucidate the thyroid hormone-induced cardiac responses. Methods: Cardiac stromal cells were isolated from human atrial appendages and cultured under hypothyroid (0 nM T3), euthyroid (2.5 nM T3), and hyperthyroid (25 nM T3) conditions for 24 (short term) and 120 h (long term). The cells were harvested after 24 h of treatment using trypsin and automatically counted, and their ECM-related gene and growth factor expression levels were assessed using quantitative RT-PCR. Cardiac glucose uptake in hypothyroid, euthyroid, and hyperthyroid mice was monitored using [18F]-FDG PET/CT at acute (7 days) and chronic (42 days) time points. Results: Both hypo- and hyperthyroidism significantly increased the number of CSCs harvested after 24 h. There were acute alterations in the expression of the ECM-related genes COL1A1, COL3A1, TIMP3 (p < 0.05), and TIMP1 (p < 0.01). Similarly, growth factors such as PDGF-A (p < 0.001), TGF-b, and IGF1 (p < 0.05) were transiently upregulated under non-physiological T3 conditions, especially hypothyroidism. Most of these alterations were attenuated or reversed at the 120 h time point. In vivo PET imaging revealed significant increases in cardiac glucose uptake under acute hypothyroidism (p < 0.05) and decreases under acute hyperthyroidism (p < 0.05). However, these metabolic shifts normalized with chronic exposure, paralleling the transient nature of the gene expression changes observed in vitro. Conclusions: Non-physiological T3 concentrations induce proliferation and changes in ECM-related and growth factor gene expression in CSCs. Most of these changes are acute and return to normal levels after chronic exposure. These transient cellular responses correlate closely with the cardiac metabolic response patterns to acute and chronic hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Full article

The quality of tea bud harvesting directly affects the final quality of the tea; however, due to the small size of tea buds and the complex natural background, accurately detecting them remains challenging. To address this issue, this paper proposes a lightweight and efficient tea bud detection model named TSF-Net. This model adopts the P2-enhanced bidirectional feature pyramid network (P2A-BiFPN) to enhance the recognition ability of small objects and achieve efficient multi-scale feature fusion. Additionally, coordinate space attention (CSA) is embedded in multiple C3k2 blocks to enhance the feature extraction of key regions, while an A2C2f module based on self-attention is introduced to further improve the fine feature representation. Extensive experiments conducted on the self-built WYTeaBud dataset show that TSF-Net increases mAP@50 by 2.0% and reduces the model parameters to approximately 85% of the baseline, achieving a good balance between detection accuracy and model complexity. Further evaluations on public tea bud datasets and the VisDrone2019 small object benchmark also confirm the effectiveness and generalization ability of the proposed method. Moreover, TSF-Net is converted to the RKNN format and successfully deployed on the RK3588 embedded platform, verifying its practical applicability and deployment potential in intelligent tea bud harvesting. Full article

Postharvest processing conditions critically influence the phytochemical composition and functional quality of medicinal plants. Emerging evidence suggests that light quality acts as an active regulatory signal capable of modulating secondary metabolism even after harvest. In this study, we examined the effects of light quality during postharvest drying on flavonoid accumulation and associated bioactivities in Adenophora triphylla leaves. Blue light treatment for 24 h significantly enhanced anti-inflammatory and anti-melanogenic activities compared with red or white light, without inducing cytotoxicity. These functional improvements correlated strongly with increased total flavonoid and anthocyanin contents. Gene expression analyses further demonstrated that blue light significantly induced key flavonoid biosynthetic genes, including CHS1, CHS2, DFR, and LDOX, indicating that harvested leaves retain light-responsive transcriptional capacity. Taken together, these results suggest that postharvest blue light exposure can upregulate flavonoid metabolism during drying, thereby improving the pharmaceutical properties of A. triphylla leaves. This study highlights light quality-guided postharvest drying as an effective and scalable approach for enhancing the value and quality consistency of medicinal plant materials. Full article

This study adopts a biochemical approach to sequester CO₂ while producing biomass rich in protein and lipids, using an adapted strain of Chlorella vulgaris (ALE-Cv), which had previously evolved to tolerate a gas mixture containing 10% CO₂ and 90% air. The research studied the operating parameters of the batch photobioreactor for ALE-Cv to evaluate the effects of inoculum size, photoperiod, light intensity, pH of culture, and CO₂ supply rate on biomass productivity and CO₂ bio-fixation rate. The optimal conditions were identified as 16:8 h light–dark cycles, 5000 lux, pH 7, 20 mL of 10 g/L inoculum, and 0.6 VVM; the system achieved a maximum total biomass production of 7.03 ± 0.21 g/L with a specific growth rate of 0.712 day⁻¹, corresponding to a CO₂ bio-fixation of 13.4 ± 0.45 g/L in batch cultivation. While the pre-adapted strain of Chlorella vulgaris under the same operating conditions, except for the gas supply, which was air, achieved a maximum total biomass production of 0.52 ± 0.008 g/L, and the total CO₂ bio-fixation was 1.036 ± 0.021 g/L during 7-day cultivation. A novel semi-continuous harvesting process, with and without nutrient addition, was also investigated to maximise biomass yield and enable water recycling for culture media. The maximum biomass production in semi-continuous harvesting process with and without nutrition added was 5.29 ± 0.09 and 9.91 ± 0.11 g/L, while the total corresponding CO₂ bio-fixation was 9.70 ± 0.13 and 18.16 ± 0.11 g/L, respectively, during 15-day cultivation. The findings provide critical insights into enhancing CO₂ bio-fixation through adaptive evolution of ALE-Cv and offer optimal operational parameters for future large-scale microalgae cultivation. This research also links microalgae-based CO₂ sequestration to green technologies and the bioeconomy, highlighting its potential contribution to climate change mitigation while supporting environmental sustainability, food security, and ecosystem resilience. Full article

Chilling has been recognized as a stress factor adversely impacting plant growth and productivity. Even a slight decrease in temperature may significantly reduce crop yield. Recently, biostimulants have emerged as a new tool for enhancing the chilling tolerance of cold-sensitive plants. The early stages of cucumber growth often occur under suboptimal temperatures, which motivated the aim of the current study to assess the effect of a protein hydrolysate (PH) on the physiological performance of young cucumber plants subjected to chilling stress. The results showed that low temperatures caused severe chilling stress by inducing changes in growth, photosynthesis, and nitrogen assimilation. These adverse effects were mitigated when the PH was supplied. The ameliorating effect could be due to a remedial influence on photosynthetic pigment content, facilitating light harvesting and energy utilization. The potential impact of the PH treatment on the redox balance was demonstrated by the activation of the G6PD gene. The possible effect of the biostimulant on nitrate assimilation was tested by measuring nitrate reductase activity, which improved after application of the biostimulant. Moreover, the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in PH-supplied plants was also increased, further confirming the enhanced protective capacity of the plants. All obtained results indicate the beneficial effect of PH application on cucumber plants and their chilling resilience. Full article

Chlorophylls and carotenoids are key plant metabolites involved in photosynthesis, stress responses, and antioxidant activity. This study aimed to examine intrapopulation variability in Melica uniflora Retz. (wood melick), focusing on chlorophyll and carotenoid content in relation to the developmental stage and environmental conditions. Research was carried out over three consecutive years (2021–2023) in the Ślęża Massif near Sobótka, Lower Silesia, Poland. Leaf blades samples were collected annually from ten natural forest sites at two time points: summer (July) and autumn (October), and analyzed for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total carotenoids using spectrophotometry. Statistical analyses, including ANOVA, were used to assess the effects of year, harvest time, and site on pigment concentrations. The average (±SD) pigment content in M. uniflora was 1.44 ± 0.73 mg∙g⁻¹ DM for chlorophyll a, 0.67 ± 0.40 mg∙g⁻¹ DM for chlorophyll b, and 0.46 ± 0.28 mg∙g⁻¹ DM for total carotenoids. Among the factors studied, year and developmental stage had the strongest statistically significant influence on chlorophyll and carotenoid levels, while site-specific differences contributed to intrapopulation variability to a lesser extent (p < 0.001). Interestingly, the first year of the study showed higher average pigment levels across both harvest times. Summer-collected plants had higher concentrations of all pigments than those collected in autumn. Differences among sites further indicated intrapopulation variability within this species. These findings provide new insights into the natural variability of photosynthetic metabolites in forest grasses and may serve as a reference for studies on the adaptive and biochemical responses of woodland plant species to environmental factors. Full article

Adipose tissue includes various cell types beyond the typical adipocytes. The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), pericytes, and endothelial cells, which can be isolated from adipose tissue by mechanical and enzymatic methods. The composition of the SVF is heterogeneous, and donor factors such as sex, age, body mass index (BMI), and harvesting site are associated with variations in cellular composition and viability. The expression of specific surface markers, which determine the immunophenotype of the cells, can also vary. In this study, we investigated the effects of donor age, BMI, and harvesting site on cell yield, viability, and size. Our results showed that BMI significantly influenced cell yield and size, with overweight and obese donors yielding more cells than normal-weight donors. Additionally, cells isolated from the adipose tissue of the thighs/legs were larger than those from other areas. Flow cytometry showed considerable variability in SVF composition among donors. These results emphasize that SVF donor characteristics have a significant impact on cell yield, viability, and cell size, with the immunophenotype being highly donor-dependent. Understanding these factors is crucial for optimizing cell yield and defining populations for therapeutic applications of SVF cells. Full article

Background/Objectives: Doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective chemotherapeutic agent whose clinical utility is limited by cardiotoxicity. To investigate underlying mechanisms, we employed a multi-omics approach integrating transcriptomics and proteomics, leveraging established mouse models of chronic DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Methods: Five-week-old male mice received weekly DOX (4 mg/kg) or saline injections for six weeks, with heart tissues harvested 4 days post-treatment. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and proteins (DEPs) were identified by bulk RNA-seq and proteomics, validated via qPCR and Western blot, respectively. Key DEPs were validated in plasma samples from DOX-treated breast cancer patients. Additionally, temporal comparison was conducted between DEPs in the mice hearts 4 days and 6 weeks post-DOX. Results: RNA-seq revealed upregulation of stress-responsive genes (Phlda3, Trp53inp1) and circadian regulators (Nr1d1), with downregulation of Apelin and Cd74. Proteomics identified upregulation of serpina3n, thrombospondin-1, and epoxide hydrolase 1. Plasma SERPINA3 concentrations were significantly elevated in breast cancer patients 24 h post-DOX. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed upregulated pathways, including p53 signaling, apoptosis, and unfolded protein response. Integrated omics analysis revealed 2089 gene–protein pairs. GSEA of concordant gene–protein pairs implicated p53 signaling, apoptosis, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition in upregulated pathways, while oxidative phosphorylation and metabolic pathways were downregulated. Temporal comparison with a delayed timepoint (6 weeks post-DOX) uncovered dynamic remodeling of cardiac signaling, with early response dominated by inflammatory and apoptotic responses, and delayed response marked by cell cycle and DNA repair pathway activation. Conclusions: This integrated omics study reveals key molecular pathways and temporal changes in DOX-induced cardiotoxicity, identifying potential biomarkers for future cardioprotective strategies. Full article

Global chestnut production is rising. However, the Portuguese chestnut industry still experiences annual post-harvest losses, largely due to microbial spoilage. Recovering high-value starch from spoiled chestnuts offers a promising strategy to reduce waste and increase economic returns. Yet, starch extracted from spoiled kernels is typically dark brown, limiting its industrial applications. This study aimed to enhance the sustainability of the chestnut sector by converting industrial byproducts into useful ingredients. We evaluated whether hypochlorite-mediated oxidative extraction at pHs around 8 and 12 could produce starch with functional properties suitable for industrial applications. Both native and bleached starches showed similar lightness (L* 84–91), though a slight yellow hue remained (ΔE* 12–19). The degree of crystallinity was higher in bleached starches (13–16%) while preserving the characteristic C_B-type crystalline pattern of native chestnut starch. The degree of oxidation was 0.88% and 0.43% for bleached starches isolated at pHs 8 and 12, respectively. Starch bleached at pH 8 exhibited moderate viscosity (breakdown 0.103) and greater swelling capacity at 50 °C than corn starch. In contrast, extraction under alkaline conditions markedly reduced gelatinization and retrogradation performance. Therefore, oxidative extraction at middle pH proved to be the most effective method for recovering functional starch from spoiled chestnuts. Full article

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral monitoring has become an increasingly important tool for assessing crop vigor and stress under commercial agricultural conditions. However, most UAV-based studies using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in citrus systems have focused on yield estimation, disease detection, or canopy characterization during active growth phases, while the immediate post-harvest recovery period remains poorly documented. In this study, UAV-derived NDVI products were used to evaluate the canopy response in a commercial ‘Washington Navel’ orange orchard located in La Yarada Los Palos district (Tacna, Peru) following harvest. The study specifically assessed the effect of an on-farm, residue-based organic biostimulant produced from local organic wastes within a circular economy framework. The results indicate that treated plots exhibited a faster and more pronounced recovery of canopy vigor compared to untreated controls during the early post-harvest period. By integrating high-resolution UAV-based multispectral monitoring with a residue-derived biostimulant strategy, this work advances current NDVI-based applications in citrus by shifting the analytical focus from productive stages to post-harvest physiological recovery. The proposed approach provides a scalable and non-invasive framework for evaluating post-harvest canopy dynamics under water-limited, hyper-arid conditions and highlights the potential of locally sourced biostimulants as complementary management tools in precision agriculture systems. Full article